Bursa Malaysia climbs at open as banks lead gains ahead of Bank Negara OPR decision
KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 — Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Thursday, supported by buying interest in banking and financial stocks ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia’s Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) announcement later today, in line with overnight gains on Wall Street.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 8.04 points to 1,764.91 from Wednesday’s close of 1,756.87.
The benchmark index opened 5.94 points higher at 1,7621.81.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 322 to 143. A total of 333 counters were unchanged, 1,853 untraded and nine suspended.
Turnover stood at 246.80 million shares worth RM164.51 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street closed higher overnight, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 scaling record highs amid reports that the United States and Iran could soon reach an end to the conflict.
“Sentiment also improved following news that the US may pause its naval operations in the Strait of Hormuz, raising hopes of a de-escalation in the Middle East conflict.
“Meanwhile, the US 10-year Treasury yield eased to 4.352 per cent,” he told Bernama.
Thong also expects the local bourse to trade within the 1,750-1,765 range today.
BNM will hold its third Monetary Policy Committee meeting today, with market players anticipating the OPR to remain unchanged at 2.75 per cent.
Among heavyweights, Maybank added eight sen to RM11.30, Public Bank enhanced three sen to RM4.82, CIMB Group rose 10 sen to RM8.03, Tenaga Nasional gained six sen to RM14.86, and IHH Healthcare improved two sen to RM8.87.
On the most active list, VS Industry rose half-a-sen to 19.5 sen, Capital A added half-a-sen to 44 sen, SFP Tech Holdings climbed 1.5 sen to 18 sen, UEM Sunrise gained half-a-sen to 67 sen, and Pos Malaysia improved one sen to 30.5 sen.
Top gainers included Nestle, which surged RM2.30 to RM103.20, Hong Leong Industries rose 30 sen to RM18.30, Hong Leong Bank gained 28 sen to RM22.40, United Plantations advanced 22 sen to RM30.88, and Pentamaster added 14 sen to RM4.27.
Top losers included Petronas Chemicals Group, which fell 19 sen to RM5.68, Gas Malaysia declined 15 sen to RM5.35, Fraser & Neave Holdings shed 10 sen to RM29.00, LPI Capital slipped eight sen to RM14.90, and Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing lost six sen to RM4.40,
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 58.08 points to 13,021.57, the FBMT 100 Index improved 57.14 points to 12,864.53, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 36.52 points to 12,961.79, and the FBM 70 Index rose 75.79 points to 18,484.13. Meanwhile, the FBM ACE Index eased 3.41 points to 4,658.59.
By sector, the Financial Services Index advanced 162.79 points to 20,399.02, the Industrial Products and Services Index gained half-a-point to 198.02, the Energy Index declined 5.07 points to 826.72, and the Plantation Index slipped 23.35 points to 8,944.61.
